The Unicorn Club-organised Golden Jubilee Charity Firework Spectacular and torchlight procession - due to take place on Saturday, November 2 - may have to be put back two weeks.

The decision for industrial action was taken last Friday, October 18, when firefighters from across the UK returned an 87.6 per cent vote supporting national strike action.

These are due to take place on October 29, and November 2, for two 48-hour strikes.

And on November 6, November 22, December 4, and December 16, for eight-day strikes.

Unicorn Club spokesman Mike Boyle, said: "Our event is the fireworks event for Wokingham and more than 8,000 people attend - it's the biggest single event for the town.

"It would be hugely disappointing if we were not able to run it but we are not anticipating that will happen.

"If the fire service is on strike on November 2 and the dispute has not been resolved by then, it is not feasible for us to go ahead because of risk assessment, insurance, and safety.

"If this happens, we are looking to postpone it to the earliest available date - probably November 16, as Cantley Field is not available on November 9.

"We are sympathetic to the firefighters' position when it comes to wages but I'm not sure whether striking is right in the public sector."

Last week's ballot follows a Fire Brigades Union (FBU) conference in September where fire staff voted unanimously to start the process of balloting its 55,000 members for a series of discontinuous strikes over pay.

This is the first national firefighters' strike since 1977 after the collapse of last-ditch talks between the FBU and local government employers over a 40 per cent pay increase.

Firefighters want a rise from their current £21,531 a year, to £30,000, and on September 2 formally rejected the employers' final offer of a four per cent rise and an independent pay review.

They also want pay parity for retained (part-time) colleagues.

The army's 50-year-old military fire engines - Green Goddesses - will be put on standby for emergency cover.

Sub officer Eddie Cardoso from Wokingham fire station, said: "Although we are mainly a part-time fire station - we have 11 part-time and three full-time staff - we will be striking with our national colleagues.

"Striking is the last thing we wanted to do and we feel very sorry for the people of Wokingham that the fireworks event has to be postponed but it's never a good time to go on strike - and at least we have left Bonfire Night (November 5) clear.

"We are out there helping the community and we want a fair pay for a fair day's work - we can't afford to live in Wokingham.

"At the end of the day, we have been forced into this position and it is a very sad day for the fire service."

Colleague, leading firefighter Ron Swan (corr), who took part in the 1977 strike, said: "It was a long nine weeks in 1977 and I never thought I would see another strike in the fire service.

"It's something no-one wanted to happen even then and it's a last resort now.

"The Green Goddesses are totally inadequate for the job and I feel sorry for the army going to operate these old machines.

"We all do the same job and the part-time firefighters get burned and put their lives at risk as much as we do and they should get equal pay."

And part-time firefighter Chris Davidson, added: "Being a part-time firefighter is a hell of a lot of commitment and you're expected to do 70 to 90 hours of cover a week for not a lot of money.

"With Wokingham fire station being both full-time and part-time, we are attending the same jobs but are on different hourly rates.

"I hope the situation won't be too protracted - none of us want to go on strike."

Last Thursday, local government employers claimed that the economic impact if other public sector workers claimed a 40 per cent wage hike, would be a 20 per cent hike in the basic rate of income tax.

And they urged the FBU to postpone strike action if it got a majority vote in its ballot.

The Government is currently preparing a review of firefighters' pay, which is due to report in December.